My understanding is that we are free to make decisions such as preferences and inclinations and tastes, but not free to make decisions for Christ. That is why Augustine said we are free, but not freed. (We don't have the liberty to change ourselves and our nature.) Our inclination to do good was lost at the fall. We were not free to choose our nature, e.g., choleric, sanguine, melancholy, or phlegmatic, but we do and can make choices. We distinguish natural freedom (making choices) from moral freedom. ("No one can [has the ability to] come to Christ unless it has been granted him by the Father.")
This is a very tough subject and I do not claim to be an expert, because nobody can explain the sovereignty of God. We are free to act according to our nature, but remember that God is the potter and we are the clay. "We are free to choose our own poison," is what John MacArthur says, and I agree. We are free to go to hell. No one ever thwarts God--Rom. 9:19 says, "For who can resist His will?" We simply cannot do anything good in God's estimation apart from His grace.
We did not choose Christ before He chose us (John 15:16). (Predestination means to mark out ahead of time.) God needs to work on us before we can choose Him. We are not automatons, robots, nor chatty dolls. No one can say he came to Christ apart from the aid of the Holy Spirit. If left to ourselves, none of us would come to Him. When Arminians say some simply desire to come to Christ they are actually attributing merit to the equation, and salvation based on works. Soli Deo Gloria!
This is a very tough subject and I do not claim to be an expert, because nobody can explain the sovereignty of God. We are free to act according to our nature, but remember that God is the potter and we are the clay. "We are free to choose our own poison," is what John MacArthur says, and I agree. We are free to go to hell. No one ever thwarts God--Rom. 9:19 says, "For who can resist His will?" We simply cannot do anything good in God's estimation apart from His grace.
We did not choose Christ before He chose us (John 15:16). (Predestination means to mark out ahead of time.) God needs to work on us before we can choose Him. We are not automatons, robots, nor chatty dolls. No one can say he came to Christ apart from the aid of the Holy Spirit. If left to ourselves, none of us would come to Him. When Arminians say some simply desire to come to Christ they are actually attributing merit to the equation, and salvation based on works. Soli Deo Gloria!
Karl,
ReplyDeleteI would like to have some Lutheran conversation with you. As a little girl, now Iam 74 years old, I was a Lutheran in a small town, Black River Falls, Wisconsin. I remember Rev Huss taking us through Confirmation and the minister talking about the Catholics. I felt this was not good as a teenager. I married a Methodist and he asked to join my religion since mine was more formal and would loose some of my religion if I joined his religion. I like both people going to the same church.
Writre me about your religion background. Jane xo
Karl,
ReplyDeleteI just want to say how impressed I am with this powerful collection of min-sermons you have built in such a short time. This is a great work for God's glory.